


Just Another Cliché

by Anonymous



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Canon Universe, Character Study, Drabble Collection, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-01 16:09:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 7,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17247296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Things have changed since last summer.-A Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones character study/get-together ficlet series. Strictly follows the Riverdale TV canon universe.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Dialogue in **bold** is verbatim from the Riverdale (2017) TV show. This is a character study exercise and I take no credit for **bold dialogue** , characters and events in this work.

**“If print journalism is dead, what am I doing here?”**

 

“ **The** **_Blue and Gold_ ** **isn’t dead, Juggy. It’s just dormant. But waking up.”** Betty says this while leaning over a dusty typewriter and a computer monitor that hasn’t been on since the 90s. She’s trying to remain conversational, but can’t keep persuasion from her green gaze.

 

It is that exact look that draws Juggy away from his perch in the doorway. Atop a desk there’s a coffee cup stuffed with a bouquet of mismatched pens and pencils, and his wandering fingers pull from it a magnifying glass as he strolls by.

 

**“You’re writing a novel, right? About Jason Blossom’s murder?”**

 

He can’t keep the curiosity out of his expression or his tone. He’s known her for so many years, but somehow it still manages to catch him off guard how observant she is. **“I am. Riverdale’s very own** **_In Cold Blood._ ** **”** He lifts the magnifying glass between them. It distorts her image, so he lowers it.

 

**“Which started out as a series of articles,”** she adds, smiling because he’s given her something she can run with. The hand she places atop the dead computer monitor is borderline doting. **“I’m hoping you’ll come write for the _Blue and Gold._ ” **

 

She says this like she already expects him to turn her down, though her optimism allows her to still try. He shifts on his feet uncomfortably. **“I just don’t think the school paper’s the right fit for my voice.”**

 

She huffs and looks away for just a moment, but she isn’t giving up. She expected this from him, but she plans to change his mind. She closes the distance between them as she speaks. **“Juggy…Jason’s death changed Riverdale. People don’t want to admit that, but it’s true. We all feel it. Nothing this bad was ever supposed to happen here, but it did. I want to know why.”**

 

Betty has always been pretty, but Jughead thinks she’s ridiculously beautiful when she’s determined like this. The thought is fleeting and intrusive, and reveals itself in the pause before his answer. **“Would I get complete freedom?”**

 

**“I’ll help, and edit…”**

 

His eyes narrow suspiciously.

 

**“And suggest. But it’s your story, it’s your voice.”**

 

He grins. **“Doesn’t sound like complete freedom, but…I’m in.”**

 

She lights up. Her smile makes her eyes sparkle and her nose wrinkle and for the millionth time since he’d first met her, Jughead is struck dumb.

 

**“Okay, great! Um, in that case, I have your first assignment. There’s one person who was at the river on July 4th that no one’s talking about.”**

 

**“Dilton Doiley and his Scouts.”**

 

**“Exactly.”**

 

He understands what to do and flicks the end of his nose with his thumb in a playful salute before turning to leave. He hears her clap in triumph as soon as he’s out the door, and he smiles to himself. Even if this venture turns out to be a waste of time, he’ll at least know that his efforts managed to make Betty Cooper smile like it was Christmas morning. For that, he wouldn’t mind investigating every person in Riverdale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> Thank you for reading. I recently started watching Riverdale (late to the party, I know), and like so many, I fell absolutely in love with Bughead. This series will follow and explore the events in the show with very minor artistic interpretations from me. 
> 
> Please leave kudos/subscribe/comment if you can!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Dialogue in **bold** is verbatim from the Riverdale (2017) TV show. This is a character study exercise and I take no credit for **bold dialogue** , characters and events in this work.

The next time he sees her, he’s complaining. He’s seated next to her in a booth with Kevin and Veronica sitting across. They’re listening to him rant about the drive-in closing. None of them know that it isn’t just his job he’s losing, or one of the few places in Riverdale he treasures as a valuable pastime, but also his makeshift home for the past however many months.

 

**“The Drive-In closing is just one more nail in the coffin that is Riverdale...No, forget Riverdale, in the coffin of the American dream.”** He’s so riled up that he begins to stammer. If he weren’t so overwhelmingly angry, maybe he’d be embarrassed. **“As the godfather of indie cinema, Quentin Tarantino, likes to say…”**

 

Kevin lifts a hand. **“Please, God, no more Quentin Tarantino references.”**

 

Veronica shakes her head in quiet agreement, which only further aggravates Jughead’s annoyance. **“What? I’m pissed. And not just about losing my job.”** He glances at Betty. She’s been sitting beside him all night and hasn’t said a word. She hasn’t touched her strawberry milkshake. If he weren’t so caught up in his own problems, he’d probably catch on that something was wrong. **“The Twilight Drive-In should mean something to us. People should be trying to save it.”**

 

Veronica places a manicured hand in the middle of the table as she offers her two-cents. **“In this age of Netflix and VOD, do people really want to watch a movie in a car? I mean, who even goes there?”**

 

**“People who want to buy crack,”** Kevin answers **.**

 

**“And cinephiles,”** Jughead counters. **“And car enthusiasts. Right, Betts?”**

 

He turns to her for support because the other two just don’t get it. He knows Betty gets it. She understands the magic of greasy popcorn fingers and watching grainy cinema classics from the front seat of a car. She’d agree that it wasn’t worth trading just for the sake of convenience.

 

She blinks and lifts her attention to him with a shake of her head as if he’s pulled her out of a dream. **“Totally.”**

 

He turns his gaze back to the window. **“** **Anyway, it’s closing because the town owns it, but didn’t invest in it. So when an anonymous buyer made Mayor McCoy an offer, she couldn’t refuse…”**

 

**“Anonymous buyer?”** Veronica interrupts. **“What do they have to hide? No one cares.”**

 

**“I do!”** Jughead spits. **“Also, you guys should all come to closing night. I’m thinking** **_American Graffiti..._ ** **Or is that too obvious?”**

 

**“I vote for anything starring Audrey Hepburn,”** is Veronica’s predictable rich girl from NYC answer. **“Or Cate Blanchett.”**

 

**“Or** **_The Talented Mr. Ripley,”_ ** Kevin says to her. “ **Betty, your choices?”**

 

Betty does that thing again where she blinks back to attention. She glances around the table like she’s trying to grasp what they’re talking about.

 

**“Everything okay, B?”**

 

**“Yeah, I’m just thinking. Um...Maybe** **_Rebel Without a Cause?_ ** **”**

 

The suggestion is perfect and it makes Jughead smile because of course she’d get it right. His approval is in the grin he shares with her just before the waitress arrives with their food.

 

He’s just started on his burger when the doorbell chimes, catching Kevin’s attention. **“** **Now, that’s an odd combo of people.”**

 

They all four turn to see Archie settling into a booth with his father and Ms. Grundy. Jughead frowns at the sight, but his distaste is forgotten by Betty’s visible upset.

 

**“I’ll be right back,”** she says.

 

**“No, Betty,”** Jughead reaches for her shoulder, but she’s already leaving the booth. **“** **No. Don’t.”**

 

**“Wait, what’s happening?”** Kevin asks.

 

Jughead ignores the question as he watches Betty make her way to the other side of the diner. She exchanges a few brief words with the table and then Archie is following her outside. Just before they step out, Archie locks eyes with him. Jughead watches the exchange from the window. He was never any good at reading lips, but at some point they must’ve mentioned him, because Archie turns to the window where he’s seated. Jughead slouches lower in the booth.

 

He knows Betty is confronting Archie about Ms. Grundy and it’s making him anxious. Not because he’s concerned about Archie getting his ass handed to him (he deserves to), but because the truth is going to hurt Betty. Jughead thinks that Archie can sometimes be a huge idiot, and this is one of those instances. He just doesn’t understand how Archie can look at Betty and want someone else. It just doesn’t make any sense to him.

 

He continues to watch them even after Veronica leaves. He notices the way Betty’s brows crease, how unhappiness thins the fullness of her mouth as Archie grinds his heel on the shattered pieces of her heart.

 

He taps his finger agitatedly against his arm as he wars with himself on going out there and dragging her back into the booth beside him. He wants to hear more of her spot-on movie suggestions. He wants to see her smile around a straw as she sips on her milkshake. He wants her to be happy.

 

He’s just about to step outside when Alice Cooper pulls up in her car. He watches Betty slip into the passenger seat and drive off. He slouches further into the booth, cursing the universe for bad timing.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Dialogue in **bold** is verbatim from the Riverdale (2017) TV show. This is a character study exercise and I take no credit for **bold dialogue** , characters and events in this work.

Archie confronts him at school the next day while he’s passing out flyers to the Twilight Drive-In’s closing night.

 

**“How hard would it have been to give me a little heads-up?”**

 

**“Look, I am, by nature, a conscientious objector. Not saying anything to either you or Betty, was the most moral, apathetic choice I could make.”**

 

 **“But, Jug,”** Archie intercedes, grabbing him by the arm. **“She’s not going to write about me and Grundy in the paper, is she? Like she did with Chuck?”**

 

Archie is referring to the article Betty had written which exposed a quarter of the football team for the pigs they were. The piece was brave. It was important. She sought justice for all the girls that’d been wronged and she achieved it. Jughead found it incredible; Archie found it threatening.

 

Jughead scoffs. **“Dude, seriously? Okay. Come on.”** He grabs Archie by his letterman and starts to drag him down the hall. **“Think about what you’re asking. If there was even an iota of a chance that something could hurt you in any way, Betty wouldn’t do it. Probably.”**

 

**“Oh, my god.”**

 

**“I’m kidding. But maybe she has a point. What do you see happening with Grundy, long-term? What do you want?”**

 

Archie sighs. **“I want to be with her. I don’t know how, but I wanna hang on to what we have for as long as possible.”**

 

Jughead is glad that he’s too busy taping a flyer to the wall to meet Archie’s eyes. It’s the only way he can hide the burn of aggravation he can feel. Archie is infatuated with Grundy and Jughead knows this because Archie can barely put into words why he feels so strongly for her. She’s older, she’s hot, she thinks he’s musically gifted. If that’s all Archie needs, fine. Whatever. He’s a teenage boy, and Jughead can’t resent him for being normal. What he _can_ resent him for is hurting Betty over what ultimately boils down to a summer fling.

 

 **“Yup. I feel that.”** His hand drops away from the flyer he’s finished taping to the wall. **“** **Trying to hold on to something a lot older than me, too.”**

 

**“Just...if Betty’s gonna do anything crazy, can you please let me know so I can do something to stop it?”**

 

Crazy. Jughead doesn’t like Archie using that word for Betty. He doesn’t like Archie assuming where his loyalties lie. From his perspective, Betty isn’t the one making stupid, dangerous decisions. Betty isn’t the one having a scandalous affair with a teacher. Betty isn’t the one hiding a major secret from the police about Jason’s murder. In fact, Betty is the one helping to uncover those secrets. She’s one of the few who cares about Jason’s murder and who’s _doing_ something about it. Betty isn’t doing anything crazy. She’s just doing what she does best: be incredible.

 

Jughead smiles thinly at Archie and walks away.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Dialogue in **bold** is verbatim from the Riverdale (2017) TV show. This is a character study exercise and I take no credit for **bold dialogue** , characters and events in this work.

The day after the drive-in’s closing night, Jughead is in the _Blue and Gold_ workroom with Kevin and Betty. He’d barely had time to lament his loss before he’s greeted with the news of the break-in to Sheriff Keller’s home. The incident is momentous. It means the killer is near and that they’re afraid. It means that maybe Sheriff Keller had been on to something. _They’ve_ been on to something. Jughead thinks that so much of it is owed to Betty Cooper’s efforts.

 

**“This is how my dad had his Jason Blossom murder board before it was trashed,”** Kevin says, sticking in another pin.

 

**“Any leads on who did that? Or what they were looking for?”** Jughead asks.

 

**“Nope. No fingerprints. But they stole a bunch of files, background checks, and all the video and audiotapes of police interviews.”**

 

The room door opens and in steps Trev Brown. He’s smiling. **“** **Hey, Betty…”**

 

Betty perks up and bounces off the desk she’s sitting on. **“** **Trev, hi!”**

 

**“Sorry to interrupt…”** Trev apologizes as he walks in.

 

**“Oh, no...uh, it’s okay.”** Betty moves her hands over the back pockets of her jeans. She’s glancing at the board while she searches for the right words to explain what they’re doing. **“We’re just, uh, working on…”**

 

**“Our murder board,”** Jughead finishes for her.

 

Trev’s mouth hangs open like he isn’t sure if he should laugh or be surprised. He decides not to confront it, and returns his attention back to Betty. **“Well, I just wanted to make sure we’re still on for tomorrow?”**

 

**“Absolutely, it’s a date.”**

 

That pulls Jughead’s attention entirely away from the piecemeal murder board. Betty’s words hit him like a kick to the stomach. He glances between the two. He doesn’t know much about Trev Brown. He doesn’t know how he should react to news that has nothing to do with him. He does know he doesn’t like it.

 

**“I mean, I’ll…I’ll see you there,”** Betty amends shyly. **“Bye.”**

 

Trev’s grin is pleased. He has a great smile and it pisses Jughead off. **“Peace out. See ya.”**

 

**“Going on a date with Trev?”** Kevin questions her as soon as the door closes. **“** **Does Mama Cooper know about that?”**

 

**“Kev, I’m not on house arrest,”** Betty counters, before adding, **“** **Okay, she’s out of town at a Women in Journalism spa retreat. Anyway, it’s not a ‘date’ date.”**

 

**“You just called it a date,”** Jughead challenges. He’s annoyed. His arms are crossed over his chest defensively. **“** **You literally said ‘it’s a date’.”**

 

**“That’s just my cover,”** Betty assures him calmly. **“Really, it’s an intelligence gathering mission.”**

 

He knows he should believe her because Betty has no reason to lie, but he isn’t being rational right now. If Trev Brown hadn’t just popped in here, would Jughead have ever even known about the date? Would Betty tell him? Was he misjudging how close they were? Why did he think he was owed an explanation? The questions just keep building in his head like the gray swell of a violent storm.

 

**“We should focus on the one thing we have access to that your dad doesn’t,”** she continues, turning her determined gaze to Kevin. **“The kids at Riverdale High. You know, maybe Trev knows something about Jason he didn’t think was important. ”**

 

Kevin looks impressed, but Jughead can’t bring himself out of his head to feel the same. Betty’s tenacity is commendable, but he never imagined she’d go so far as to date (even if she swears it’s not a “date” date) someone she isn’t actually interested in.

 

He looks back to the murder board, his eyes glued to the portrait of Jason Blossom. _That’s_ where Betty’s mind will be tonight when she’s on her date with Trev, and that’s where his _should_ be, but it won’t. Sure, Betty only intends to grill Trev about Jason to see if she might uncover something for the investigation, but there are too many other variables she isn’t considering. Like Trev Brown’s great smile.

 

Jughead can’t help wondering if maybe she noticed it, too.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Dialogue in **bold** is verbatim from the Riverdale (2017) TV show. This is a character study exercise and I take no credit for **bold dialogue** , characters and events in this work.

Jughead isn’t worried about how Betty’s date went when he meets her in the student lounge. She’s upset over a conversation she had with her dad about Polly, and it’s him she seeks out in the crowded halls. It’s with him that she decides to share that her sister may have attempted to self-harm. She’s upset, she’s in shock, and she came to _him_. He doesn’t really know what to say.

 

**“Betty, I’m sorry. That’s hardcore.”**

 

She glances at him from the adjacent sofa, her green gaze full and warm with appreciation. Jughead thinks that he’d like to hug her, but he isn’t sure if that’s okay. His thoughts turn to yesterday, and how Betty hid from him her date with Trev. He doesn’t want to overstep the unclear boundaries of their friendship.

 

**“I asked my dad if I could call Polly. He said she was doing better. But then, when she heard about Jason’s death, she had a big setback. He doesn’t want to risk another one.”**

 

Jughead shakes his head. He hates that Polly is hurting, he hates that she’s been put away by those that should protect her, and he especially hates how it’s affecting Betty. What he understands is that Betty is here because she plans to do something about it, and she’s seeking his help. And he _will_ help her. He just can’t make sense of one detail in Jason’s story. **“Why does a rich kid sell drugs?”**

 

**“He was running away from his parents.”**

 

**“Yeah. Probably.”** He pulls himself out of the armchair as he thinks. It’s easier to keep a clear head when he isn’t so close to her. **“Or drug dealers.”**

 

**“Oh, my god. Is that possible?”** Betty asks.

 

**“It’s a theory. Yours is more likely. But why would he have to run away from mommy and daddy?”**

 

**“Because they’re monsters.”** Betty shivers at the suggestion as she tries to imagine the kind of mindset a teen boy would have to be in to want to flee from his parents. She frowns because that’s exactly what Polly did.

 

**“Yeah, but why, specifically.”**

 

**“Well, we can’t exactly just ask them.”**

 

**“So we have to ask Jason.”**

 

She hesitates and looks at him with careful bemusement. The tiniest of smiles plays at the corners of her lips. **“** **Are you proposing a seance or…”**

 

**“No. Dead men tell no tales.”** He smirks, though, because the suggestion is cute. If it’d come from anyone else, he’d accuse them of mocking him for his dark and moody appearance. Betty Cooper isn’t mocking him. She wouldn’t. He doesn’t doubt that if he _had_ suggested a seance seriously, she’d be right there beside him, lighting the candles. **“But their bedrooms, their houses…”**

 

A smile spreads across her face as she catches on to what he’s suggesting. Not that anything he ever says is particularly elusive, but he still appreciates that he never has to explain himself to her. Betty Cooper is as smart as she is pretty. If there’s anyone trying to keep up, it’s him. He doesn’t mind. He kind of likes being the Watson to her Sherlock.

 

His fingers curl in the pockets of his jeans. Again, he thinks, he wants to hug her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Dialogue in **bold** is verbatim from the Riverdale (2017) TV show. This is a character study exercise and I take no credit for **bold dialogue** , characters and events in this work.

It’s the day of Jason Blossom’s funeral. Jughead is standing on the front doorstep of the Cooper residence with clammy hands and a quick heart. Betty’s parents have already left, and he’s come to pick her up. She texted him earlier and told him to just walk in, but he can’t seem to muster the courage to open the front door.

 

_It’s a funeral, not prom_ , he reminds himself. It doesn’t really do much for his nerves nor change the fact that he’s picking up the prettiest girl in Riverdale while in his best suit.

 

With an aggravated huff, he steps inside. The house is quiet when he enters and closes the door. He glances around as he makes his way towards the staircase. Faintly, he can hear the sound of Betty shuffling about upstairs and his heart jumps into his throat, choking his greeting silent.

 

It isn’t the first time he’s been inside Betty’s house, but it’s the first time he’s been inside Betty’s house with _just_ Betty. He’s never been here without Archie, who has always been some sort of friendship liaison between him and the blonde next door. Archie and Betty were best friends, him and Archie were best friends, and him and Betty were, well, friends because of Archie. That’s how it’s always been, until now.

 

Things have changed since last summer. Now it’s just Jughead standing alone in the doorway to Betty’s bedroom. He smiles softly at the floor just before he enters her room, thinking of the irony that maybe him and Betty getting closer has everything to do with Archie not being around as much.

 

**“You ready to enter the belly of the beast?”** He asks as he walks in.

 

He finds her shrugging into a black dress jacket before her mirror. She turns to face him, her blonde hair half-down and sweeping across her shoulders. Her eyes look him over from head-to-toe and she smiles at what she sees. She looks as if she might laugh when her eyes finally meet his.

 

Jughead’s stomach feels like it’s about to float up through his ribcage. She looks beautiful and he wants to tell her, but he isn’t sure if that’s appropriate considering she’s dressed for a funeral. Still, he thinks it. He always thinks it.

 

He glances sideways, feeling awkward and uncertain. He pulls his hands into the pockets of his dress pants. **“** **It was the best I could do.”**

 

She only nods. She’s still smiling at him and there’s nothing confusing about it; Betty likes what she sees. Just like that, he feels good about himself. He smiles back shyly.

 

Yeah, things have changed since last summer. Jughead is absolutely okay with that.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Dialogue in **bold** is verbatim from the Riverdale (2017) TV show. This is a character study exercise and I take no credit for **bold dialogue** , characters and events in this work.

They sit together at the memorial service. They don’t talk much, but remain quiet observers. They both watch as Archie gives Mrs. Blossom his football jersey with the number he inherited from her son. When he returns to his seat, Betty tells him that what he did was sweet. She briefly touches Archie on the arm, and Jughead wants to look away.

 

His thoughts don’t stay bitter for long. Not when Cheryl enters the room in white, catching the attention of everyone like a bride walking down the aisle on her wedding day. Her eulogy is short and tragic, and drags Jughead’s thoughts back to where they should be. On Jason.

 

When Mrs. Blossom dismisses everyone to supper, he and Betty cut their way through the crowd unseen. They sneak away upstairs, Jughead fully conscious of what it might look like to anyone that catches them. Quietly, they enter Jason’s dark bedroom. Betty sticks close to his side.

 

**“Is it me or did the temperature just drop like it does in horror movies?”**

 

**“That’s just the icy chill of the dead,”** he says.

 

They step further inside and she tosses up her hands. **“Where does a teenage boy hide things?”**

 

**“Under the mattress, maybe in the drawers, behind the headboard, in the closet.”** There’s a bookcase in the corner of the room, and Jughead goes to it. He kneels down and opens the bottom cabinet. Betty follows and digs through the drawer in Jason’s bedside table.

 

A spindly voice creeps out of the shadows behind them. **“Hello.”**

 

The two teens jump, Jughead issuing a breathless curse as his hand flies up to grip Betty’s shoulder. She’s tense beneath his fingers. She presses herself back against him and her hair brushes his cheek.

 

**“I’m so sorry,”** she tells the elderly Mrs. Blossom. **“We were just leaving.”**

 

**“Oh. It’s you,”** the old woman says with pleasant surprise. She wheels herself closer to them, effectively cornering them from escape. **“How lovely to see you again. Come closer, I wanna get a good look at you.”**

 

Betty’s fear has her leaning further away from the old woman and closer to the one that makes her feel safe. Closer to Jughead. His hand lowers from her shoulder to the center of her back where he spreads his fingers wide so she can feel that he’s there.

 

**“The horror,”** Jughead whispers in her ear. **“The horror.”**

 

Despite her unease, Betty steps closer to the woman who is beckoning for her with frail, spidery hands. Jughead’s hand slips away from her back.

 

**“Come closer, Polly dear.”**

 

Betty stills, and glances back at Jughead. Her gaze is bewildered. His undoubtedly mirrors that sentiment. He follows behind Betty as she approaches Mrs. Blossom, just in case she needs him to be there.

 

Betty slips into character with practiced ease as she takes a seat on the edge of Jason’s bed. **“It’s nice to see you again, too. I’m sorry it had to be under such terrible circumstances.”**

 

As Betty is speaking, the old woman takes up her left hand and pats her fingers, searching. **“Well, of course you’re not wearing it. God bless.”**

 

**“Wearing what?”**

 

**“The ring, Polly.”** Betty leans back minutely, shock hardening her gaze. **“** **That ring has been in the Blossom family for generations. You keep it close to your heart, always. But don’t tell Penelope I gave it to you. Or she’ll likely come and snip it off your finger!”**

 

The playful threat makes Betty flinch. **“I won’t, I promise.”** She looks to Jughead, and he holds her gaze. He silently lets her know that he’s listening, that he’s concerned, with the slight raise of his brows.

 

**“Such a shame,”** Mrs. Blossom continues. **“Your wedding was the last thing I was living for. I lost a grandson, but you, you’ve lost the love of your young life. Poor child.”**

 

Betty shakes her head and stands from the bed. Her voice is uneven. **“Excuse me. I have to…”** She looks to the open door then back to Jughead. **“I can’t…”**

 

She leaves and Jughead rushes after her. He catches her just before she reaches the staircase, his hand locked around her upper arm. She stops and turns to him. Unshed tears wet and tangle her bottom lashes.

 

His jaw ticks and his hand softens against her arm. He doesn’t know what to say or do. Somewhere downstairs are Archie and Veronica and Kevin and so many other people who might be able to tell her the right thing, but she’s here with _him_ and he wants to be the one to make her feel okay.

 

He brings her closer gently, draping his arm around her shoulders in an uncertain half-hug. He isn’t sure if this is the right thing to do, but it’s what he wants to do and she doesn’t seem against it. She presses her forehead to his shoulder. Tears and mascara stain his suit.

 

He only pulls her closer.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Dialogue in **bold** is verbatim from the Riverdale (2017) TV show. This is a character study exercise and I take no credit for **bold dialogue** , characters and events in this work.

It’s just the two of them in the _Blue and Gold_ workroom the following day. Betty is handling the aftermath of discovering her sister’s secret engagement and her parent’s hiding it from her with startling composure. Whereas anyone else would be reeling from the discovery, Betty remains sure-headed, though down.

 

**“Juggie, I feel like I don’t even know who my mom and dad are anymore.”**

 

**“Betty…”** He lifts himself off the desk he’s seated on and paces. **“** **If your parents lied about Jason and Polly, there’s probably more that they lied about.”**

 

His suggestion pulls her up. Her wide, trusting eyes meet his. **“What do you mean?”**

 

**“Your dad said he would do anything to protect Polly. So the next logical question is....how far would he go to protect her?”**

 

She knows what he’s implying, and he’s relieved to find that she isn’t offended by the accusation as she approaches his side before the murder board.

 

**“Jughead, whoever broke into Sheriff Keller’s house and stole all his evidence wasn’t at the drive-in.”** Her eyes meet his, and she isn’t afraid to follow through. Not with him. **“My dad wasn’t at the drive-in.”**

 

He takes up a notecard from the desk and offers it to her. She stares at the name written for a moment before taking it with sure fingers. His gaze doesn’t leave her face as she pins her family’s name to the center of the murder board, just below Jason Blossom’s photo.

 

**“We need to talk to Polly** **,”** he tells her.

 

Apprehension freezes her expression and he almost misses her nod. His fingers itch to take her hand in his, to pull her close like he did yesterday. Betty needs somewhere to run now that home is no longer an option.

 

Maybe, he thought, he could be that for her.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Dialogue in **bold** is verbatim from the Riverdale (2017) TV show. This is a character study exercise and I take no credit for **bold dialogue** , characters and events in this work.

Betty invites him over for breakfast. Alice Cooper made pancakes and they are absolutely delicious, but Jughead can’t truly enjoy them with her hawklike gaze glued to him while he eats. The conversation has run dry, and the only noise breaking the quiet between the three of them is the tinkling of the spoon in Mrs. Cooper’s mug as she mixes artificial sweetener into her gourmet dark roast coffee.

 

**“So, Jughead…”** Mrs. Cooper says his name like it’s salt that was poured in her coffee instead of sugar. **“** **I suppose we have you to thank for Betty’s ongoing obsession with this Jason Blossom ghoulishness?”**

 

Jughead knows that Mrs. Cooper doesn’t like him. Mrs. Cooper doesn’t much like anyone, but she especially doesn’t like people that threaten the cardboard family image she so carefully tries to maintain. He knows that when she looks at him she sees what everyone else sees: danger. A negative creep looking to sink his fangs into her perfect daughter and drag her into the pits of depravity.

 

The thought of him managing to corrupt Betty Cooper kind of makes him smile. The kid from the trailer park somehow managing to win the girl next door? Yeah, sure. In his opinion, Mrs. Cooper has been reading one too many bargain bin romance novels.

 

He frowns into his pancakes.

 

**“Actually, mom, I was the one who asked Jughead to help me write it for the** **_Blue and Gold_ ** **,”** Betty says, swooping in to save him with angelic mercy.

 

Mrs. Cooper laughs. The sound is void of any real humor. It sounds like the drag of cutlery on porcelain. **“Relax, Betty. I’m just making conversation.”**

 

Jughead meets Betty’s eyes from behind the glass of his orange juice. Her brows twitch upward in silent signal and he gives a quick nod.

 

**“Do you guys have a bathroom I could use?”** He asks.

 

“ **Sure, I’ll show you,”** Betty offers.

 

**“No, no. I’ll show him,”** Mrs. Cooper insists, already standing. Her smile is tight. **“Follow me...Jughead.”**

 

Jughead gives Betty a helpless glance as he follows her mother out of the dining room, making sure his footsteps are slow enough to give her ample time to dig through her mother’s purse as planned.

 

“I know what you’re up to,” Mrs. Cooper says when they’re far enough down the hall for Betty not to overhear. She turns to him when they reach the bathroom, her arms folded protectively across her purple sweater. Her piercing blue gaze levels him. “I see the way you look at my daughter. If she’s your dream girl, then that’s no surprise, of course, but that is all she will be to you. Do you understand me?”

 

The confrontation doesn’t exactly come as a surprise, but there’s a fierceness in her words that derails his cool. She has a way of making him feel like his head is on the chopping block and that she’s about to swing the axe at his next wrong word.

 

Jughead throws up his hands in a show of surrender. “I promise to leave Rapunzel in her tower, Mrs. Cooper. I really just want to use the bathroom.”

 

“Betty tells me you’re a writer? That you aspire to be the next Truman Capote?”

 

Embarrassment flushes him pink. “I mean, yeah, I write, but the _In Cold Blood_ thing was just a joke. I didn’t think she’d take me seriously.”

 

“Oh, she does.” Mrs. Cooper takes a step forward, her eyes holding his like a serpent ready to strike the moment he looks away. “You see, boys like you have a way with words, and girls like Betty have ears for them.”

 

Jughead can’t keep the confusion out of his expression. He isn’t sure at what point Mrs. Cooper decided he was some silver-tongued Casanova out to seduce her daughter. “Mrs. Cooper, Betty’s been crazy about Archie since we were kids.”

 

“And yet it’s you eating breakfast at my table this morning.”

 

Jughead doesn’t know how to counter that without giving too much away about his and Betty’s investigation. However, she does kind of have a point. He’s noticed it too, how quickly Betty seems to have moved on from Archie. He figured that it was because of their investigation into Jason Blossom’s murder, but...maybe it was something else. Maybe it’s him.

 

Yesterday he would’ve scoffed at the thought of Betty Cooper being interested in him, but if Mrs. Cooper is this rattled by the possibility, then maybe it _is_ possible. Maybe.

 

He bites back a smile as he slips into the bathroom.

 

Mrs. Cooper’s voice is scathing from the other side of the door. “Don’t forget to wash your hands.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Dialogue in **bold** is verbatim from the Riverdale (2017) TV show. This is a character study exercise and I take no credit for **bold dialogue** , characters and events in this work.

What Betty’s investigative efforts uncover from her mother’s checkbook is that Polly is located at a home for troubled youths called The Sisters of Quiet Mercy. They take the bus on their next day off, neither of them telling anyone where they’re headed. They don’t want to be followed, not at the risk of being stopped. 

 

Jughead follows her lead. It’s her sister inside the oppressive gray fortress that is essentially a prison disguised as a sanctuary for the mentally burdened, and he isn’t there to push her more than she’s ready.

 

They stand together after the bus drops them off, their eyes on the building looming before them. Betty’s eyes are glassy with tears for Polly. There is no warmth here. This is no place she would ever want her sister.

 

**“Hey. Don’t judge a home for troubled youths by its facade, right?”** It’s his attempt at injecting something lighthearted into a densely depressing situation. He’s not sure it works, but he knows Betty is kind enough to appreciate the effort. 

 

She cracks a small smile and then tightens her ponytail. Jughead understands that means showtime, and he follows her into the entrance of the home. 

 

An old woman is seated at a windowed desk just beyond the entryway. A significantly sized statue of the Virgin Mary hovers on the desk beside her, watching over their conversation with a painted smile and open arms. Jughead doesn’t put much weight in idols, but he hopes this one pulls through and helps guide them to the answers they’re searching for.

 

**“Hi. My name is Elizabeth Cooper. I’m here to see my sister, Polly.”**

 

There is no sign of welcome in the older woman’s countenance as she leans forward.  **“May I see some identification?”** Betty slides her ID across the counter and the woman scrutinizes it closely before indicating to the clipboard before her.  **“Sign in here, please.”** She turns her cool gaze to Jughead. **“He’ll have to wait.”**

 

Betty quickly glances at him. He can see she doesn’t want to leave him behind. He gives her a short smile to let her know it’s fine, that he’ll be here when she gets out. 

 

She disappears behind a pair of locked double doors and he takes a seat on a hard wooden bench to wait for her. He has a book stashed in his pocket, but he can’t concentrate on the pages. His leg twitches impatiently and his eyes continuously glance at the doors she’d left through. He hopes she’s okay. He hopes Polly’s okay. He catches the frigid stare of the elderly sister still seated behind the desk, and concern sits heavy in his gut.

 

He’s not sure how long he sits there waiting. It’s probably no more than half an hour, but it feels like days. At some point, the woman behind the desk leaves and doesn’t return for awhile. He’s about to find a bathroom just for something to do when the entrance doors fly open and in storms Alice Cooper. Her stilettos peck loudly against the polished linoleum as she passes.

 

“Hello. I’m here to retrieve my daughter, Elizabeth Cooper. I received a call that she was visiting today.”

 

“Mrs. Cooper?” Jughead’s voice is tight as he stands to meet her.

 

She turns briefly, and in that short glance he can glimpse the disapproval she feels for him. “Well, look who’s here. Did Betty ask you to escort her, or did you follow her here like an ownerless dog?”

 

He doesn’t get the chance to bite back before she’s being lead through the same doors Betty had gone through an hour before. All he can do is pace back and forth and wait for them to come out. When they do return, Betty is being dragged behind her mother by the wrist. A male nurse is following close behind, and Jughead quickly takes up the tail end of the train.

 

As they walk, Betty looks over her shoulder to make sure he’s there. He only catches her eyes for a moment, but it’s all he needs in order to know she’s upset. He can practically feel it pouring out of her in waves as he follows at a distance. He wishes more than anything that there was some way he could close that space and help ground her. He wants to get her away from her mother and outside of these gray walls.

 

They suddenly stop in the center of the hall and Jughead stills when he sees Polly standing before them. His eyes fall to her pregnant stomach and he immediately moves his gaze to the back of Betty’s head. 

 

**“Mom?”** Polly says shakily.

 

**“Polly…”**

 

**“Jason’s dead?”** Polly steps close to her mother.  **“And you didn’t tell me? And you kept me in here?”**

 

Up ahead, two male nurses notice the confrontation and rush towards them, but not before Polly gets her hands on her mother and begins to shake her by the arms.

 

**“Baby, it’s for your own good,”** Alice urges.

 

Jughead has no idea how any of them are supposed to believe that as he watches the nurses physically wrench Polly away by her arms and drag her down the hall. Polly screams and reaches for her sister who runs after her, her hands outstretched and desperate. Jughead moves to help, but the man beside him is one step faster and blocks his path. He can only watch as Betty throws her arms around her sister and promises to save her.

 

**“I’m gonna get you out of here, I swear to God,”** Betty tells her decidedly. Jughead can’t see them, but he can hear the tears in her voice and he feels it like a bruise in the center of his chest.  **“I love you, Polly.”**

 

Polly’s cries echo through the hall after her.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Dialogue in **bold** is verbatim from the Riverdale (2017) TV show. This is a character study exercise and I take no credit for **bold dialogue** , characters and events in this work.

When Jughead shows up at Betty’s house unannounced the following day, there’s a ladder leaning beneath her window. He isn’t sure why it’s there, but he takes it as a sign. The palms of his hands are hot as he climbs it up to her window. He doesn’t think about how intrusive this is until it’s too late, and he finds her seated before her vanity.

 

He taps on her window and it’s the bravest thing he’s done all week. In a minute, it’ll be the second bravest. He’s taking a giant risk here, but something in his gut tells him it’s right and he’s running with it.

 

Her ponytail flips against her cheek when she whips around to look at him. It looks like it takes a second for her to comprehend that he’s there outside her window. When it clicks, a smile brightens her face and she rushes over to let him inside.

 

**“Hey there, Juliet,”** he greets, hoping to sound half as smooth as her mother imagines he is. **“Nurse off duty?”**

 

She steps back so he can climb inside. He feels awkward and clumsy as he squeezes through the window and tries to keep his dirty sneakers off her window seat.

 

**“You haven’t gone full** **_Yellow Wallpaper_ ** **on me yet, have you?”**

 

She sighs and shakes her head. **“They’re crazy. My parents are crazy.”**

 

**“They’re parents. They’re all crazy,”** he offers consolingly.

 

**“No, but what if...what if Polly is, too? The way she was talking to me, the way she looked at me...and now, all I can think is maybe I’m crazy like they are.”**

 

She’s fretting over her sister and her family as he knew she would be. It’s exactly why he came over. Betty needs more than just a text message or a phone call. He wants to be that for her, if she’ll have him. Though his hands are still hot and his legs feel like they might fail him at any second, he lifts his hand to her shoulder and steps closer. **“Hey.”**

 

She sighs again and shakes her head. Her ponytail wags cutely and Jughead feels his bones soften. **“We’re all crazy,”** he tells her. She chuckles and it’s the best sound he’s heard all day. **“We’re not our parents, Betty. We’re not our families.”**

 

He’s not just saying things she wants to hear. He means it. For her, and for himself. It’s something he’s been repeating ever since his own family began to unravel at the seams, and he began to learn how survive without the help of his parents.

 

She nods and drops her eyes away and he drinks in the sight of her like she’s his personal sunrise. In so many ways, that’s what she’s always been; the sun on a horizon he can’t reach. But he can reach now. The space between them is no longer an endless ocean, but mere inches. If he’s brave enough, he’ll shorten that distance to nothing and hope that it flips his world sunny-side up.

 

**“Also…”** He begins and chokes. The air in his throat is cut short by his nerves and he’s reminded of how he’s just a stupid teenage boy who has no idea what he’s doing when he’s not hiding in the pages of a book.

 

**“What?”** Betty asks gently.

 

_You’re perfect_. The words are cliche and he’s glad that he’s too tongue-tied to voice them, because Betty Cooper has probably heard the same line countless times before.

 

Instead he stands there, staring at her like an idiot while he tries to kickstart his brain into gear. He’s had every day since they were kids to figure out how to tell her what he thinks of her, and now that he’s here, he finds himself wordless. He’s discovering that he’s not as good at expressing himself with his mouth as he is with his writing, and thinks maybe he should’ve packaged this up in a poem or letter. It’d be corny, but at least that way she’d know exactly what he means when he says that when he imagines a perfect world, nothing about her is different.

 

**“What?”** She says again, her smile impatient for his answer.

 

So he kisses her. There’s the smallest gasp from her and he feels it against his mouth just before their lips touch. For that one uncertain moment, he feels his stomach drive for his spine, but then her eyes close and she’s kissing him back and contentment spreads through him like warm butter on toast.

 

Jughead Jones, the kid from the trailer park who always seemed to draw the short stick, was kissing Betty Cooper, a girl that made him feel like he had one foot in the real world and the other in a dream. He’d question if a dream wasn’t exactly what this was if it weren’t for the very real feel of her fingers curled against his shoulder and her lips warm against his.

 

Betty tastes like drugstore lipstick and strawberry chapstick and Jughead decides that his new favorite flavor is her mouth. She’s smiling like she’s thinking the same when she pulls away and lifts her eyes to his.

 

He drags his thumb against her temple and breathes. He’s about to kiss her again when she jolts.

 

**“The car!”** She realizes in a rushed whisper, her attention switching away as if someone had accidentally sat on the remote that controls her brain.

 

Jughead smiles. **“Wow. That’s what you’re thinking about in the middle of our moment?”**

 

**“No,”** she insists, breaking away. **“Polly talked about a car Jason had stashed for them down Route 40 near some sign. If we can find it, we can confirm Polly’s story.”**

 

**“One way or another.”** He agrees.

 

Her eyes fall to his mouth and he knows she’s distracted, but not completely. **“I need to know, Juggy.”**

 

He decides he’s gonna make that happen. Whatever answers she needs, he’ll help her find them. They were going to get to the bottom of this, and they were going to get Polly safe and back home. All he needs is to see that steadfast determination in Betty’s eyes to know it's all going to work out.

 

And when this was over, they’ll have another moment. Hell, they’ll have a million.


End file.
